his name had come up and the volume of the conversation had dropped considerably. Knowing she was discussing him with the receptionist had riled him up all over again.
But now that the moment was at hand, finding the right words was more difficult than he’d expected. He should have anticipated that. Making speeches had never been his long suit. Katie, on the other hand, had always been extremely verbal—she’d been senior class president and captain of the debate team.
But now the opening sentence had to be his. “We—” He stopped to clear his throat, irritated with himself for having to do that. “We need to talk.”
“So talk,” said a spiky-haired woman sitting behind the receptionist’s desk. “Don’t mind me.”
Jess had completely forgotten someone else was there until she’d spoken. Apparently Katie still affected him to the point that he blocked out everything but her. That was an unwelcome discovery. He wanted to keep the upper hand in this interaction, and going gaga over Katie wouldn’t help.
Katie glanced at the receptionist. “Ava, this is Jess Harkins, an old friend from high school. Jess, this is Ava Dinsmore, our intern from Pima College.”
“Nice meeting you,” Jess said.
“Same here.” Ava studied him with interest.
“I think I left some files in the conference room,” Katie said to Ava. “Would you check and see if they’re there?”
“I’d be glad to, but I’d better watch the phones. We always get a bunch of calls for Jared’s show on Friday nights.”
“Good point. Then I’ll go check. Jess, why don’t you come on back with me so we can discuss this on the way?”
“It won’t take long.” Jess looked into Katie’s eyes and was rocketed back thirteen years.
She’d been his first love, and he’d had so little to give her back then. He and his mom had moved their meager belongings from Globe to Tucson his senior year in high school. He’d been the new kid, the one with no money and big dreams, a quiet guy who’d been fascinated with Katie’s gift of gab and her blond good looks. He’d envied her sense of belonging.
When she’d taken an interest in him, he’d been thrilled. They’d been a good combo because she’d done enough talking for both of them. To compensate for not saying much, he’d written her poems.
One he happened to remember now had compared her eyes to every blue thing he could think of, including his favorite stonewashed denims. God, he’d been pathetic. And a lousy poet. But her eyes still had the power to make him lose his train of thought.
“Just come with me,” she said. “I need to take those files home tonight and we can talk on the way, kill two birds with one stone.”
“That’s not necessary. I just—”
“I think it is.” She turned and started toward a hallway.
He wasn’t about to deliver his ultimatum to her back, so he had no choice but to follow her like an obedient lapdog. This was not going the way he’d scripted it in his head. He was forced to pass the receptionist, who took no pains to disguise her curiosity.
“I think she still likes you,” Ava said in an undertone.
He stared at her. Surely she didn’t know that he and Katie…surely not.
Ava met his stare and shrugged.
Then again, no telling what Katie had revealed and to whom. But if she’d made her life an open book, she wouldn’t be trying to keep this discussion private. He was confused, not a good state of mind for accomplishing his mission.
Katie paused at an open door and glanced back at him. “Jess?”
Instinct told him not to go in there. His plan had been simple—confront her at work and threaten legal action if she didn’t stop her attacks on his project and on him. Especially on him. But now that he was here, his threat seemed silly and belligerent. Defensive. As if he’d taken the sexual-inadequacy thing seriously.
He should have thought of how it would look, him storming over here to demand better treatment. Instead he should have ignored the whole business. But he was into it now, and leaving without saying anything would make him seem even more idiotic. A firm stand was called for.
He walked toward the door Katie held open. She maintained her position, which forced him to walk past her into the room. Anyone would think she’d initiated this meeting with the way she’d taken charge. He needed to reverse the dynamics, but one whiff of her perfume—the same lemony scent she’d worn in high school—and his brain took a major hit.
Instead of planning his line of attack, he was wondering if she was seeing anyone. She wasn’t wearing a ring—that much he’d noticed right away, though he shouldn’t have taken the time to notice. Her comments on the air made it clear she considered him pond scum.
Focus, Harkins. He was good at that. Harkins Construction, built from scratch in only seven years, was a testament to his powers of concentration and his ability to bring others around to his point of view. Although he wasn’t much of a talker, he’d somehow convinced loan officers to take a chance on him when he’d had no collateral except his will to succeed.
Maybe that’s where he’d gone wrong. He’d barreled over here to issue demands instead of trying persuasion first. His temper had taken control. Katie had always had the power to arouse strong emotions in him—anger, joy, passion. Reasonable discussion wasn’t normal with them, but that insight had arrived about thirty minutes late.
The conference room had a couple of windows covered with wood-toned plantation shutters, and a desert mural decorated one wall. The large oak table in the middle looked as if it had come from a Spanish hacienda. He could imagine how much Katie enjoyed working in this old adobe house. She’d always loved anything Southwestern.
When the door closed, he turned around. He and Katie were alone for the first time since the night of the senior prom. And just like that night, he couldn’t figure out what to say to her.
AS THEY STOOD FACING EACH other, close enough that they could reach out and hold hands if they chose to, Katie’s heart hammered like a set of bongos. She’d always been fascinated by Jess’s mouth. His full bottom lip had been so much fun to nibble on, and when he’d chosen to use that mouth on her breasts, she’d experienced a little bit of heaven.
She looked away from that tempting mouth. Now was not the time to be thinking of how much she’d loved making out with him. Being alone in the backseat of a car with Jess used to make her forget where they were and what time it was. She’d blown her curfew more than once because of that.
She needed to take a deep breath, but that might telegraph her nervousness, so she made do with the small amount of air in her lungs. As a result, her voice sounded more breathy than usual. “I take it you’re upset about my comments on the air recently,” she said.
“Yeah, especially tonight’s comments. You’re making this personal and I don’t like it.”
Although she met his gaze, she was trembling and she didn’t want him to notice. She gripped the back of a mission-style chair to steady herself. “Too bad. I call ’em like I see ’em.”
“I’m not compensating for anything, Katie.”
“That’s not the way the experts see it.”
He sighed. “Please just tell me why you’re doing this.”
That sigh almost defeated her. When they’d dated, that kind of heartfelt sigh had made her want to gather him into her arms and make everything better. At times Jess had seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders, and she’d wanted to soothe away his cares.
But sigh or no sigh, he was still the man involved in destroying her legacy. “I want to save this beautiful